This is the first year that I haven’t felt like I need to change my life completely on New Year’s Day, despite the fact that the internet keeps telling me I need to. I’ve learned to accept my belly fat; my daily meditation practice is working and I have a few other ways to take care of myself. Most importantly, I’ve made space for grace when my daily “rituals” get disrupted for one reason or another. There were no emotional meltdowns during the holiday season for me, and we hosted dinner this year, so … yay!
The magic of music
I own hundreds, maybe a thousand songs, printed, as we did back in the day and placed in notebooks from all the shows I’ve sung since around 1990. Recently I’ve envied my colleagues who have all their music on a compact and adorable iPad. They lean it onto their piano, and off they go. Any song is at their fingertips. That’s where I’m headed in 2025. Yep. Cataloging my music. This blog is going to be my accountability buddy. I figure I can catalog at least three songs a week, an achievable goal, and I’ll write a bit about the songs and lyrics that have some emotional juice for me. Maybe where I found the song, where I sang it, what it meant and what it now means. We’ll see where this lands, but that’s my hope. It feels as though I’m making a date with old friends, once a week.
Sing a song
Month one: January. Thirteen songs are in a binder and loaded onto my adorable iPad. Twelve a month is my goal, so, yay! The song that I’ll share is Heart and Music by William Finn.
William Finn, divine being of musical theatre composition. Lyricist extraordinaire. My first experience with Mr. Finn was working at Portland Center Stage, Chris Coleman’s FIRST season. A New Brain. I played the juicy role of Rhoda, Gordo’s bestie. Dream date, Mr. Finn, came and saw the show! — Yes, Mr. Editor, that merits an exclamation point, doesn’t it? — I was thrilled to meet him. He wore a bow tie and his hair went all the places his songs do. The song I’ll share is Heart and Music. Here’s an example of some of the magnificent poetry:
Stories of passion, stories of friendship and tales of how romance survives. I have so many songs. Stories of yeses, of frogs making messes and poor, unsuccessful and fat people’s lives. Stories of living. Stories of dying, and ways we can deal with our fear. Stories of horses, parental divorces and how rich or poor, it’s a small sphere, where we appear. But you gotta have heart and music. You gotta have heart and music, heart and music, get along. Heart and music, make a song.
I learned this song for A New Brain and have been singing it ever since. Every word rings true for me. Most recently, I sang it at Concerts at the Barn this summer with Zach Galatis. Do yourself a favor, find a link to A New Brain and listen to that remarkable show. Check out the song: Change. Fuse Theatre Ensemble did a superb production of A New Brain recently, and I just noticed they’re producing Assassins next season. My friend Grant Miller will be appearing in that show. Shout out to the wonderful Mr. Miller. Get thee to the theater.
The magic of words
I will continue to practice Jon Kabat-Zinn’s words every day:
Practice sharing the fullness of your being, your best self, your enthusiasm, your vitality, your spirit, your trust, your openness, above all, your presence. Share it with yourself, with your family, with the world.
Lots of love to you and yours
Happy New Year, and drop me a line if you’re so inclined, here, or check out my monthly newsletter here. If I do say so myself, there’s some cool info there!